The men’s winner of our Summer Transformation Challenge is Jeff Walther! Jeff lost 25.8 pounds of fat, added 12.6 pounds of muscle and saw his body fat drop by 8.2 percent, for a total of 45 points!

Jeff, 41, is with the Coeur d’Alene PD and came to us looking for a way to get into something competitive again. Jeff was a Brazilian Jujitsu competitor in years past, but over the course of five years, four knee surgeries derailed his involvement and prematurely retired him from the sport.

“I couldn’t compete, because my knee was never right,” Jeff said. “I finally got the surgery to fix the cartilage, but I didn’t realize how much I had lost over that time. I just wanted to compete and feel good about myself again.”

Once Jeff signed up with us for the challenge, he got the support and push he needed to do that. Toby helped him design a meal plan, with proper exercise and supplements, so that every time Jeff reached a plateau, he was prepared to break through it. Jeff’s staple supplements were Pro7, BCAAs and Thermovex.

“The support has been awesome. I didn’t realize the science behind the nutrition part of things before this,” Jeff said. “Having been in athletics before, every time I worked out, I was always missing that piece. Toby helped me dial it in and it made a huge difference.”

Toby also helped Jeff put together an exercise program that Jeff uses at work – part of his team-building process with the police department is a team workout, and involving his team with his exercise doubled his motivation. The atmosphere became one of team-inspired discipline, which was hugely beneficial for Jeff – “guys working together won’t let you get away with anything,” he said. “They’ll keep you honest. They’ll say, ‘The rest of us are doing heavier weight, so what are you doing?'”

Jeff also learned to value body composition over simply weight, and that change manifested itself in the mirror. As a grappler, Jeff was always focused on the scale because making weight is such a critical element. Once he made that mental adjustment, he found that his results were happening – and quickly.

“I’m getting older, and sometimes at 41, it’s tough to get back into motion,” he said. “It really surprised me when I learned I won.”

Jeff said what helped him was the feeling of support and outreach he got from Nutrishop, especially considering the long layoff from weight lifting he went through. The ability to have a close connection with nutrition experts was a highlight of his experience.

“I hadn’t lifted weights in a long time, and when I first came in, and I totally see how going into a supplement shop – especially when you don’t really know anything – can be intimidating,” he said. “But they’re super easy to get along with. There’s no judgment passed, and they don’t expect you to be a bodybuilder. You realize that fitness is for everyday people – it’s for everyone.”

Our women’s winner for the Summer Transformation Challenge is Veronica Post! Veronica lost 26 pounds of fat, gained 10.1 pounds of muscle and cut her body fat percentage down bv 11.8% for a total of 47 points!

Veronica dominated our challenge – one common struggle we hear frequently is that middle-aged women have more trouble losing weight than men do, but she even beat out the men for fat loss. At 55, Veronica says she’s as confident and happy as she’s been in a long time.

“I feel better than I have in I don’t know how long – maybe 15 years,” she said. “I feel like I did when I was 40. I can breathe better, I have way more energy, I have more self-confidence and self-esteem and I just feel better about myself.”

Veronica admits she didn’t know what she was getting into when she started our challenge – she simply saw a motivation to get her body back to how she felt it should be. But as she continued to eat right and exercise, she saw an opportunity for more.

“I really didn’t understand what I was doing until I saw it on paper, in the numbers. I thought it would take me forever, at 55, and that just wasn’t the case,” she said. “I tell everybody I can that they can do it if I can, because I’ve always felt like I would love to be an inspiration to kids and even people my own age.”

Veronica is a middle school employee, so she’s already involved with helping shape the lives of others. She decided to further that cause by setting a great example. Throughout the whole process, she never stepped foot into a gym – she did all her workouts with kettlebells, free weights and weight balls in the school’s band room before she started work, then rode her bike afterward. She also put a 3-pound hula hoop to work several times a week for 40 minutes.

“Not everybody can really afford a gym membership, or they get intimidated when they see these big bodybuilders and everything,” she said. “But that didn’t stop me and it shouldn’t stop anyone else. You don’t have to get muscled or lose fat by going to the gym. You can do it outside.”

Veronica said she’s struggled her whole life with her weight – while she’s always been athletic, her body image has been an issue for her. With her hard work, Nutrishop’s guidance and some motivation from within – “I couldn’t have done this without Jesus,” she said – all that is behind her now.

“I can’t express enough how good I feel. And it makes me feel even better to think that I might be motivating someone else to do the same thing.”

Congratulations to Jesse Ebert, our overall winner of our Fall Weight Loss & Muscle Gain Challenge! Jesse put on 12.05 pounds of muscle and lost 7.85 pounds of fat, for a total swing of 19.9 pounds – impressive! For his great results, he wins a year’s supply of protein!

Jesse before and after the NUTRISHOP Fall Challenge.

“I got so tired of being skinny all the time,” Jesse said. “I was motivated from the beginning, but after my first weigh-in, I realized, ‘Holy crap, something’s happening.’ That really motivated me to push harder and I could see the numbers and evidence to prove it was working.”

A year ago, Jesse started his gym membership, but he didn’t really have much direction – he would go to the gym and work out, trying to figure things out on his own. A friend told him about the Challenge, and he decided to go for it. Then he started taking things seriously, doing research on power-lifting workouts that would get him stronger and bigger, and working with Josh at NUTRISHOP to get his diet and supplements on point.

“It was all pretty new. I’d never even done squats before – I thought about it, maybe walked over to the bar a couple times,” Jesse said. “Starting this challenge encouraged me to talk myself into it. Once I started challenging myself, that’s when I started seeing muscle mass.”

Paired with an introduction to protein and BCAAs and full-body, compound lifts, Jesse saw results right away. He started off eating salads and watching his calories, and he dropped 5 percent body fat over four weeks. He soon discovered he needed to eat as much quality food as he could get, and that’s where Josh fit in. They worked together on what Jesse should eat and when, and Jesse took it to heart.

“Everybody at NUTRISHOP has been great – any questions I’ve had, they’ve answered, and they always give tips that actually help,” Jesse said. “There’s always a fear when you’re trying something new that someone is just trying to sell you something, but I always felt like they were being genuine and really wanted to help me.”

Jesse’s goals for 2016 are to keep on the same track – if he can gain 12 pounds of muscle in two months, he said, imagine what he can do in a year.

“I feel great – I’ve got a positive attitude and a lot more self-confidence,” Jesse said. “There’s no way I’m going to stop now, right when I’ve got it figured out.”

If your resolutions are fitness- or health-based again this year, we’ve got you covered.

Many people wish they could start from scratch — much in the way it’s easier to keep your house clean once it’s already been thoroughly tidied up, it’s easier to make sure your fitness is on-point without weighing it down with excess waste, toxins or other buildup lingering in your body. If you partied this holiday season — and that includes calorie splurges at Thanksgiving, indulging in sweets around Christmas and boozing hard for New Year’s — you could probably use some detoxifying in your life.

This leads us to our first New Year’s must-have supplement: DETOXIN.

The “Synergistic Blend” in DETOXIN targets all four detoxifying organs (kidneys, liver, gall bladder and colon) specifically, boosting support to your system:

Liver Detox and Support Blend: Your liver plays a huge role in almost everything health-related you can imagine in your digestive system. It synthesizes amino acids to help build muscle, it processes insulin and other hormones and it breaks down fats. When your liver is burdened with excess toxins, it simply cannot do these things as efficiently as possible, meaning you have waste that needs to be broken down but is instead just sitting there. Ever hear people say “My liver’s going to hate me” after a night of heavy drinking? Well, they’re right. Alcohol toxins in the liver are pure poison, and your body sees it as a priority to get rid of it first and foremost. Many processes get put on hold to deal with these alcohol toxins; the result is often a hangover. Bonus: Consider DETOXIN a hangover helper!

Gall Bladder Detox and Support Blend: If you’ve ever wondered where “kidney stones” or “gall stones” come from, look no further. And if you’ve heard of people who have had them — some say the word “excruciating” is putting it gently — they all say their doctors told them the same thing: They should have watched the crap they were putting in their bodies. People who routinely don’t drink enough water or take in boatloads of chemicals and toxins fall in this category, meaning we’re more at risk than we might think. Your gall bladder serves as a backup to the bile the liver produces, and when too many toxins interact with that bile over time, they form stones. And you don’t want to have to pass one to know how painful they can be.

Kidney Detox and Support Blend: “House” fans should recognize the phrase “renal failure,” but even if you’re not into hospital drama on TV, you’ve got to know how important the kidneys are to your entire body. They’re responsible at least to some degree for your body’s waste management, blood pressure, water management and a ton of other filtering processes that are crucial to your system. Because they serve as filters, they bear the burden perhaps the heaviest when you overload your system with toxins — they take on all the unprocessed garbage your other organs can’t handle. It is essential to take care of your kidneys, and this blend helps promote kidney health.

Colon Detox and Support Blend: As you might have suspected, some of us are more full of crap than others — literally! The waste storage unit in the lower intestines, the colon is responsible for doing the final clean-up job of your digestive system. The problem with many people’s digestive tracts, though, is that they are so full of toxins and insoluble waste that they never do get processed. Instead, the accumulate in the colon, giving the feeling and appearance of bloating and distension. In some people, up to 20 POUNDS of excess waste can be stored, severely blocking the body’s ability to further rid itself of toxins and harmful bacteria in the colon.

Second on our list of products to start your year off right with is STANCE, available both in men’s and women’s thermogenic formulas.

The two big ingredients in STANCE are Dicana and R-beta phenylethamine.

Dicana is found in STANCE, in the form of DIOXITONE T4; its purpose is to synthesize proteins, which in turn helps build muscle and ultimately leads to decreased body fat. This is how hormones can affect your physique and well-being, and Dicana can play a vital role in the process.

As we age, our bodies’ important systems slowly start to become less and less efficient. This is true for just about everything — and, as it turns out, this includes how well we can metabolize and use the nutrients we’re eating.

A 2013 publication from Germany hypothesized that older people needed to increase their protein intake to make up for a diminished ability to create muscle (slowed anabolic response to food), and then brought forth evidence backing up this claim:

New evidence shows that older adults need more dietary protein than do younger adults to support good health, promote recovery from illness, and maintain functionality. Older people need to make up for age-related changes in protein metabolism, such as high splanchnic extraction and declining anabolic responses to ingested protein. They also need more protein to offset inflammatory and catabolic conditions associated with chronic and acute diseases that occur commonly with aging.

Today begins our series on nutrition and supplements for those 50 and older. Many forget that NUTRISHOP does not just cater to athletes, but to a wide range of people who simply are trying to optimize their nutrition to live the best, healthiest lives possible. Right off the bat, we can tell you this: Increasing your protein intake, as suggested in the study above, will work wonders for improving your livelihood even as you age.

Our two most popular options, PRO7EIN SYNTHESIS and FORZA PRO, are popular for a reason: They work. Ensuring you have enough protein in your daily diet is key to not only improving the way you look, but how you function and feel on a day-to-day basis.

There’s more to feeling healthy than just your muscle tone, of course: body fat, joint health, vitality, etc. We will hit all those topics this week, right here in this running blog entry. Stay tuned!

–GENERAL HEALTH

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the older we get, the less effective our bodies get at absorbing critical nutrients. We also just eat fewer of them:

…Several aspects of aging may increase the likelihood of a deficiency in key vitamins and minerals, according to the National Institute on Aging. These include having a reduced sense of taste and smell; spending more time indoors; difficulty chewing; following a restricted diet because of a health condition; eating alone; experiencing loss of appetite; and taking medications that may prevent absorption of vitamins and minerals. Older adults also are at higher risk for dehydration because they may not notice when they are thirsty. (Source)

This might not only be applicable to senior citizens, too; even as young as 50, these aspects may start affecting our diets. That said, one of the best vitamin investments you can make to account for deficiencies in calcium, vitamins A, C and E, vitamin B12 and vitamin D, is NATURE’S FUEL. Its formula is among the best in terms of complete efficacy and there is no match for its absorption, meaning you get what you pay for when you take your vitamins. And for those who would tell you multivitamins are useless, we beg to differ: The American Cancer Society, referencing Harvard research, noted that over an 11-year study involving more than 14,000 subjects, there was an 8-percent decrease in cancer risk for men 50 and older:

Harvard researchers have found a possible link between taking a daily multivitamin over a long period of time and a small reduction in cancer. They analyzed data from the Physicians’ Health Study (PHS) II, which tested the effects of multivitamins in 14,641 male doctors 50 years of age or older. PHS II participants received either a multivitamin or a placebo for an average of about 11 years. The study was published early online Oct. 17, 2012 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Source)

–JOINT HEALTH

As we age, the moving parts in our bodies that consistently are worn down, every day, little by little, start to go. Our joints are first and foremost on this list; it’s estimated that 37 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis and that by 2020, it could be such an impactful malady that it could even affect the nation’s workforce:

In 1994 the Centers for Disease Control reported that by year 2020, when one out of every two Americans will be over the age of 50, there will be a larger increase in new cases of arthritis than of any other disease in the United States. Among the leading causes of disability, arthritis heads the list; osteoarthritis is the most prevalent form and has the greatest economic impact. (Source)

Obviously, joint health is a huge concern. How can you help save yours? For starters, perfecting your exercise form and movements can help a great deal, making sure you are not exerting undue stress on joints or ligaments as you train. And while getting that down may take some time, there’s an easier fix still: supplementing for joint health.

JOINT THERAPEUTICS is the strongest, most complete joint support formula available designed to support healthy joints, relieve sore joints, improve mobility, strengthen and repair cartilage and connective tissue as well as reduce inflammation that leads to joint pain and discomfort. On top of actually helping to strengthen your joints for the future, JOINT THERAPEUTICS provides inflammation relief as well. Inflammation, one of the body’s responses to irritation or injury, has been associated with many conditions. It usually includes pain and sometimes redness and swelling in the area of the damage. The pain relieving, anti-inflammatory ingredients in our Anti-Inflammatory Complex are designed to support healthy joint function, assist in the healing of minor sprains, strains, muscle injuries, and the pain, swelling and tenderness that accompany sports injuries. This is accomplished by significantly reducing inflammation which can also bring effective relief to arthritic and sore joints as well as improve flexibility and mobility. These properties make this a popular alternative to prescription painkillers for the treatment of pain associated with arthritic joints.

– FIGHTING MUSCLE LOSS

We discussed earlier how muscle maintenance is important via diet, and why protein is so vital. However, as older people age, it does become more difficult to consume the same amount of calories and keep weight off, simply because exercise becomes more difficult (either to perform, or to schedule in). The deterioration of muscle tissue to fuel the body’s energy supplies is called “catabolism,” and it is a significant concern of fitness-minded folks — we call it “muscle-wasting,” as an example of how we view it.

The reasons someone 50 or older might worry about muscle-wasting include general day-to-day movement, easing the stress on joints and ligaments and decreasing pain and increasing agility associated with full-body movements you do routinely (standing up, getting out of bed, getting into a car, etc.). One newer supplement that is becoming more and more popular with the plus-50 crowd is HMB — even drinks like Ensure are now including it. And it’s the star of BETABOL at NUTRISHOP.

HMB is a naturally occurring compound produced when our bodies metabolize the amino acid leucine. Its main role has been found to be the repair, growth and preservation of muscle tissue, as well as the capacity to burn fat. The body spends precious resources with muscle repair — each rep you do results in microscopic muscle-fiber tears; the regrowth of these tears puts a huge energy strain on the body. Leucine is the only essential amino acid with the capacity to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, but it is essentially used primarily to repair muscle damage incurred while lifting. When it is metabolized, HMB is produced as a natural byproduct and aids in recovery.

What if, however, you could “free up” the leucine to stimulate muscle protein synthesis to develop NEW muscle, instead of merely repairing the damaged tissue? That is precisely where an HMB supplement like BETABOL comes in. An increase in HMB is designed to allow essential leucine to build new muscle tissue, in turn burning more fat.

In the Journal of Applied Physiology, an Iowa State University study from 1996 examined the effects of HMB in detail, providing specific ratios to test subjects who engaged in weight-training exercise and also supplemented with protein (rich with leucine). The conclusion: “Supplementation with either 1.5 or 3 g HMB/day can partly prevent exercise-induced proteolysis and/or muscle damage and result in larger gains in muscle function associated with resistance training.” (SOURCE.)

The study points out that the muscle-building benefits of leucine have been scientifically backed for the 45 years, but that only recently has the byproduct HMB gotten any attention for its role in the process. By the end of the study, researchers found that the subjects that were using enhanced doses of HMB were experience higher levels of anti-catabolism, more fat loss and an increase in strength, muscle volume and recovery speed.

When considering health and fitness, it’s easy to overlook the importance of hormonal activity and function — we are so worried about food and calorie expenditure that sometimes we forget that hormones play a massive role in not only our physiology, but our overall health.

That is why we want to dedicate this week to thyroid health — what the thyroid is, what it does and how you can maintain its good health. Follow this blog entry all week as we update it with some of the best products available for regulating and maximizing your body’s important hormone production.

THE THYROID

The thyroid is a large endocrine gland in the neck that serves as a massive regulator of hormone sensitivity, protein synthesis and energy expenditure. It produces its own hormones that subsequently play a roll in other hormonal processes in the body. It can get somewhat confusing; the bottom line: Your thyroid is pretty darn important.

It produces, mainly, hormones known as T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). The big takeaway from these — other than important letters to win a Scrabble game — are what they do for your body. Namely, that is metabolism (a healthy, functioning thyroid works to improve it) and growth and development, all related to other hormones produced in the body, including anabolic growth hormone.

Stay tuned this week as we look into the best ingredients and products to keep the thyroid healthy!

DICANA

Dicana (3,3’ Diiodothyroacetic acid, protected by US Patent #7,919,533) is fueled by a powerful proprietary combination of patented Diiodothyroacetic acid isomers. These powerful, ground-breaking isomers represent the pinnacle in metabolic regulation as they are metabolically active on their own in addition to having a direct reversible pathways to the fat incinerating T3 thryoid hormone, Tricana, and T2!

Dicana is found in the EVOLVE System sold at NUTRISHOP, in the form of DIOXITONE T4. That might seem familiar — yes, it’s referencing the same T4 (thyroxine) mentioned before when we were discussing the important hormones the thyroid produces. Remember, its purpose is to synthesize proteins, which in turn helps build muscle and — wait for it — ultimately leads to decreased body fat. This is how hormones can affect your physique and well-being, and Dicana can play a vital role in the process.

OTHER PRO-THYROID INGREDIENTS

In addition to Dicana, there are other options available for improving thyroid hormone production. Again, T4 and T3 are the main thyroid hormones responsible for protein synthesis, with some influence in body mass because of how they affect growth and development. HYDROSTIM, which contains sea vegetation like kelp (shown to provide iodine and even soluble fiber, to promote both thyroid hormone production and fat and cholesterol loss), is an option, as is diiodotyrosine — a precursor of thyroid hormone, found in some of our best fat-burners, including HYPERCOR.

Other products, like THERMOVEX, THERMOVEX PM and SOMNILEAN, contain guggulsterone (or guggul extract), which some studies suggest may help to regulate thyroid function as well as positively impact the body’s good and bad cholesterol levels.

NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC

Finally, to wrap up our Thyroid Health Week, we want to explain the difference between natural and synthetic thyroid hormone production. In almost all cases (consult your doctor to be sure, always), we’d recommend a natural approach to hormone production over synthetic alternatives — Synthroid, as it’s commonly known, may indeed provide the T3 and T4 that the thyroid does naturally, but just like with synthetic testosterone, there is a price.

You see, the brain and other glands do all the signaling to the thyroid when it comes to promoting (or not) hormone production. Using natural ingredients that encourage that process is NOT medication — it only serves to optimize hormone production, and if you were to stop, say, taking an iodine supplement like kelp, your body would find ways to level off one way or another without damaging the receptors, glands and all the other processes involved in producing T3 and T4.

But, when a synthetic hormone is introduced to the body, the brain interprets this as an abundance — a surplus, even — of T3 and T4, and its response is typically to signal the complete shut-off of more hormone production. In many cases, once Synthroid is started, it cannot be stopped without the thyroid being rendered unable to recover and produce hormones on its own anymore.

For this reason, we again recommend sticking to natural options as much as possible when it comes to this very important part of the body!

Both living with and preventing diabetes is an important part of the human diet today. The common associations with high blood sugar, increased body fat and/or obesity and hypertension make diabetes a real, dangerous and prevalent disease, especially in Western cultures, where the “standard” diet guidelines have gone by the wayside.

To battle this, it’s recommended highly that everyone — not only athletes, dieters or fitness models — control their dietary sugar intake. This one step alone is a major victory in preventing and addressing diabetes.

So, while we love the aesthetic benefits of lowering dietary sugar — namely, reduced body fat and a leaner frame — there are big-time health benefits to it as well. The purpose of this week’s blog is to show how dietary changes can make a big difference in your everyday life.

To begin with, we want to explain why protein is needed with each meal to balance blood sugar. The digestion process normally works this way: The body absorbs the sugars from food and converts them to glycogen (blood sugar); then, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin to help carry glycogen as fuel to the muscles and other cells for function. Diabetics’ bodies either don’t respond to the insulin enough, or the pancreas doesn’t make enough (or both).

Over time, too many high-glycemic foods (sugars) blunt the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and that sugar gets stored in the blood and as fat cells. This, fortunately, can be countered with some wise eating habits.

Glycemic weight can be lowered in meals by a higher protein content. Because glucose helps to shuttle protein to the muscles, it is less likely to be stored as fat, and over time, this adds up. The body will not be so used to sugar spikes that it is desensitized to insulin — the very culprit behind diabetes. This is why our advice is to eat some protein with every meal. Keeping your sugar intake low, while balancing it with protein, is a great way to manage blood sugar and body fat.

That is why our meal plans (always FREE with purchase) that help you lose fat are designed to balance blood sugar as well — because that is the best way to burn body fat. We customize these for everyone, and we can tailor your plan to include the healthiest possible plan for you.

Stay tuned throughout the week for the top NUTRISHOP products that are either diabetic-friendly, or that will be safe, low-sugar options.

PROTEIN

One of the best steps you can take in fighting high blood sugar is to make sure you get enough quality protein without adding tons of sugars. For example, most “side dishes” tend to add lots of simple carbohydrates — people eat steak, but they need mashed potatoes; they have chicken, but they need white rice; they have lean ham, but need a sweet roll with it. Being diligent about making sure your clean protein sources don’t get bogged down with high-glycemic foods is important.

But what if you have a sweet tooth? This is where a tasty protein shake can work wonders. NUTRISHOP carries several brands of whey protein powder blends that taste great and have just one gram of sugar, including FORZA PRO and PRO7EIN SYNTHESIS. And remember, a high protein intake often leads to a faster metabolism, which in turn helps to process the occasional simple sugars that much more efficiently. This is how blood sugar and pressure is kept low — regulating the body’s insulin production by controlling simple sugar consumption and encouraging a faster metabolism.

REPLACING SUGAR

One of the top ways you can avoid or deal with blood sugar problems is to cut out simple sugars from your diet, or at the very least limit them. But for those of us with a sweet tooth, the options when it comes to facing a bland diet or just caving in and eating sugar aren’t all that appealing.

Even natural sweeteners — honey, nectar, etc. — don’t help us. They still contain sugars that have the same insulin-spiking glycemic effect and they still carry big calorie totals. That’s not our goal.

That’s where artificial sweeteners come in, but over the years, they’ve taken somewhat of a hit in their reputation and developed a bad rap. NUTRISHOP is all for all-natural products when they promote health, but there are some things in nature that just don’t help our bodies look good or function well. Natural sugar is just one of those things, and when science can step up and provide a healthy alternative, it’s worth listening.

A recent investigation from the Mayo Clinic broke down the different types of artificial sweeteners and found that the reputation they’ve earned are hardly justified, while some “natural” products don’t deserve the hype they get. Below is a look at the most common artificial sweetener, sucralose.

Sucralose: Definitely the safest and most common artificial sweetener, you might see it most of the time when you’re fixing up your coffee at Starbucks or in a restaurant. The classic pink-yellow-blue sweetener packets are all actually different types of sweeteners (the yellow one, Splenda, is sucralose). Many of the exclusive NUTRISHOP products contain this favored sweetener, approved by the FDA in the ‘70s as a completely safe alternative to sugar. Sucralose is actually derived from sugar itself, its 600 times sweeter than sugar and is virtually calorie-free.